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There are certain topics on which our letter writers and online commenters talk past the author of the piece who prompted them to respond. They don't address points raised in the original article; instead, they use the piece as a way to express whatever unassailably strong opinions they have on an issue. Examples of topics that touch off this kind of dialogue -- if you can call it that -- include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, abortion and religion. Some of the letters and comments below typify what we often get in response to an editorial on religion; in this case, they're replying to the most recent editorial in our series exploring the meaning of citizenship in the 21st...

Related "Freedom of Religion" Articles

There are certain topics on which our letter writers and online commenters talk past the author of the piece who prompted them to respond. They don't address points raised in the original article; instead, they use the piece as a way to express whatever...

To the editor: When swearing to protect us and our Constitution, which literally ensures religious freedom to all Americans, why should Air Force and other military enlistees and officers have to opt out of saying the phrase "so help me God"?...

Mississippi's governor signed into law Thursday a measure that allows individuals and organizations to sue the government over laws that they feel thwart their ability to practice religion.
“I am proud to sign the Mississippi Religious Freedom...

Only a decade ago, Christian social conservatives were a commanding force in American politics. They helped elect one of their own, George W. Bush, to two terms. They were a cornerstone of a GOP coalition that appeared to hold a permanent electoral...

Mississippi lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow citizens and businesses to challenge laws they see as substantially in conflict with their religious beliefs.
The bill, in the hands of Gov. Phil Bryant on Wednesday, would put into place a...

It’s not easy being an atheist.
A new Pew poll found that atheism ranked at the bottom of a list of 16 traits that might affect someone’s view of a 2016 presidential candidate. (People are more likely to vote for someone who uses pot, has had an...

The Supreme Court's controversial Hobby Lobby decision has thrust a once-little-known boutique law firm into the center of a growing conservative movement to make faith-based exemptions as potent a legal tool as free speech has been for liberals.
The...

To the editor: It is misleading to say flatly that the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling applies to all corporations. ("Myths and spin abound on Supreme Court contraceptive decision," July 3)
Twice the majority opinion stated its holding...

When the Supreme Court unwisely ruled that some companies can decline on religious grounds to cover contraceptives in their employee health plans, it was interpreting not the 1st Amendment but a federal statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration...

American Christians were in the forefront of those demanding that Sudan release a woman who was sentenced to death for “apostasy” for allegedly converting from Islam to Christianity. But was that because they support religious liberty as a general...

To the editor: Negative prayer may be just the remedy for those of us who blanch at religious zealots' pious public displays of prayer to their chosen deities. It's worth a try: I'll beseech my deity to use her divine powers to hinder those who feel their...

The Supreme Court's decision striking down the contraceptive mandate for family-owned businesses seems narrow, but its implications are broad and disturbing. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling Monday, held that it violated the federal Religious Freedom...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Monday’s Hobby Lobby ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court “deeply disturbing” and said there should be “a real outcry against this kind of decision.”
In a 5-4 ruling, the court said Monday that...

In ruling 5 to 4 that "closely held" companies can refuse on religious grounds to include contraceptives in their employees' health plans, the Supreme Court has needlessly interfered with an important provision of the Affordable Care Act. And it...

In his dissent on public school graduations in churches, Justice Antonin Scalia focuses on the offense one takes when exposed to religion through government action. Whether one may reasonably escape that exposure is key. ("Diplomas and churches don't...

Under federal law, it is illegal for churches and other so-called 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to "participate in, or intervene in … any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office." But in recent...

To the editor: Oklahoma's attorney general is wrong to assert that religious leaders have a 1st Amendment right to "encourage their members to engage in the political process in a manner consistent with the core tenets of their religion" — while...

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear 90 minutes of oral arguments in a case that will determine whether bosses who have religious objections to birth control can deny their female employees the contraceptive coverage to which they are...